The Yakuza, Japanese organized crime families, have found their way onto this blog for many years because of the elaborate tattoos they wear, often created by masters of the craft. There is so much mystery, myth and lore surrounding the Yakuza that the tattoos are only just a part of the intrigue.

Seeking to better understand the Yakuza, Belgian photographer Anton Kusters went to Japan and, after gaining unprecedented access by one of the leading crime families, he spent two years photographing the underworld syndicate, from boardrooms to bath houses, including their tattoos. In 2011, Kusters published his book Odo Yakuza Tokyo, and most recently, The Economist created a short film about Kusters' project: Japan's Yakuza: Inside the syndicate.

The video, embedded below, has Kusters offering fascinating stories behind the images. The photographer also provides more on the project on his site:

YAKUZA is a personal visual account of the life inside an
inaccessible subculture: a traditional Japanese crime family that
controls the streets of Kabukicho, in the heart of Tokyo, Japan.

Through
10 months of negotiations with the Shinseikai, my brother Malik and I
became one of the only westerners ever to be granted this kind of access
to the closed world of Japanese organised crime.

I share their
complex relationship to Japanese society, and show the personal struggle
of being forced to live in two different worlds at the same time;
worlds that often have conflicting morals and values.

It turns out not to be a simple 'black' versus 'white' relationship, but most definitely one with many shades of grey.

The book seems to be out of print at the moment, but the video is a great watch.